Aviation is an industry that dreams are made of. Your dream may be fulfilling your relative’s dream of hovering on a 2+ hour trip in a kit helicopter or sharing a flight with your children and teaching them the wonders of rotorcraft. Whether it’s using a helicopter to aid your community, working on an aircraft to ensure all passengers on board make it to and from their destination safely, or fighting for your country’s freedom—the aviation industry proves time and time again that anything is possible.
The 2022 entries from around the world illustrate the international appeal of vertical flight and how HAI provides a platform for the global industry to come together. HAI is pleased to announce that there were four international winning photos last year. In last year’s submissions, you’ll see a touching photo that reflects a dream stemming four generations and a misty shot of a four-day aerial firefighting operation. You’ll also see two stunning photos of aircraft during air-to-air sessions in Poland, a team of mechanics working diligently to conduct a testing, and the sun rising before an air medical crew starts their day.
These striking shots reflecting both the work that we do and why we do that work have been selected as winners of HAI’s tenth annual ROTOR Magazine Photo Contest. The Grand Prize winner and five category winners were showcased in the March 2022 issue of ROTOR as well as HAI HELI-EXPO 2022 in Dallas, Texas.
Grand Prize
David Chow
Atlanta, Georgia
Chow took this photo in his Rotor X Phoenix A600 Turbo while doing one of his favorite things—flying with one of his children. In the photo, Chow’s daughter, Rosie, gives him a thumbs-up on the view in the dash-mounted camera. Check out the video of Rosie’s reaction to hearing her dad won the Grand Prize here on our Instagram.
David first dreamed of building a kit helicopter over 40 years ago with his late grandfather, S.L. Chow, who served in the Taiwanese Air Force and under the renowned Claire Chennault of the Flying Tigers during World War II, later rising to the rank of a three-star general. The Chows’ dream finally came true in 2021 when David flew his helicopter from Texas to Georgia.
Helicopters/Drones at Work
Oscar G. Bernardi
Varese, Italy
Oscar G. BernardiBernardi’s misty action shot shows an S-64F “Geronimo” CFS100 I-CFAG Forestale on Lake Ghirla, north Italian Prealps, during a four-day firefighting operation. In a post on our Instagram, he shares how he captured the shot, including a funny story about the bird in the photo.
Helicopters/Drones in the Military
Michal Adamowski
Zaskale, Poland
Michal AdamowskiThe winning Helicopter/Drones in the Military photo shows an air-to-air session with an Airbus H225 Super Puma after the Leszno Air Show in 2021.
People and Their Helicopters/Drones
Michal Adamowski
Zaskale, Poland
Michal AdamowskiThe People and Their Helicopter/Drones winner shows an MBB-105 during an air-to-air session after heavy rain in Piotrków, Trybunalski.
Helicopter/Drone Digitally Enhanced Photos
Scott Moak
Richmond, Virginia, USA
Scott MoakScott Moak is no stranger to taking great shots or nabbing prizes in the ROTOR Magazine Photo Contest. In the 2018 contest, Scott won the People and Their Helicopters category (see below). In 2021, he came back for another win; his winning shot shows the sun rising over an Air Care Eagle Bell 407 sitting on its hospital rooftop helipad in Richmond, Virginia. Check out Scott’s Thank You message on our Instagram.
Wrench Turners
Tom Houquet
Berg, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium
Tom HouquetTom Houquet, shows in this photo a few mechanics at the Belgian Federal Police Air Support Unit performing pitot-static testing on one of their MDs 902 helicopters at their military base in Melsbroek, Belgium, near Brussels.